Tex’s Angel (Savage Legion MC #11)

Chapter 10

Tex

W hen Clara reaches over to squeeze my hand, I barely manage to refrain from throwing her over my shoulder, carrying her upstairs, and having my way with her. Given what she said, I think she’d be up for it, but she’d wake up in the morning and hate me for taking advantage when she was vulnerable.

Still, after hearing her talking to her brother-in-law I knew I had to tell her how I felt. It didn’t seem right to keep crushing on her without saying something. Nope, she’s had her fair warning, maybe once this is all over, we can see if there’s anything between us. But until then, even if my cock has other ideas, I’m not gonna make a move on her.

When the meal is winding down, my cell phone buzzes with a message from the guys I sent out to Clara’s house. I bring Clara up to speed on what’s going on. “Since I’m managing the Savage Legion’s security business, I’ve sent out a team to put up cameras around your place. They’re there now but need your alarm code to get into the house.”

I hand Clara my phone and she types the code and hits send.

When she gives me the phone back, I explain. “Since I work for the Legion, y’all don’t have to worry about paying. Labor’s free and we’ll take the equipment back after we catch this asshole, though if y’all wanted to keep the cameras then we can do it for cost.”

“Thanks, hopefully I won’t be needing the extra security.”

“Well, whatever you decide, I’m here for you.” Glancing at Wade, I say, “Our list of possible suspects looks something like the neighborhood kids, the soon-to-be-ex, and you.”

Wade’s eyes fly open, but he doesn’t object.

“Naturally, we’ve managed to check you off our list. The neighborhood kids we’re still working on. We confronted them and they blew us off. My son goes to a Catholic private school with them and says they’re all a bunch of rich kids more worried about getting into the right colleges than doing stupid shit that might get them arrested. I had a friend at the police station run background checks on them and they’re squeaky clean, so I’m thinking we can rule them out as well.”

Wade speaks up, “That leaves Chris.”

“Do y’all think he has it in him to stalk Clara?”

“Chris has always been obsessed with Clara, even before they started dating. He told me stories about how he manipulated multiple situations to put himself in her path, hoping he could charm her into dating him.”

I say dryly, “Clearly, that worked. I guess it comes down to motive, opportunity, and drive to pull something like this off.”

Clara chimes in, “I thought that since the man on my door’s ring cam didn’t look anything like Chris, that it was maybe someone he hired to harass me.”

Wade’s head jerks up. “Chris would never hire anyone to harass you. He’d be too jealous of letting another man get close to you when he wasn’t around.”

“Afraid of me falling for the man he hired to harass me? Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?”

I explain it to her. “Clara, you’re clearly pretty naive when it comes to men and how possessive they can be. What Wade’s sayin’ is that Chris sweet-talked you right into bed and he’s the kind of man who knows that shit works, and more importantly that it works on you because y’all fell for his shit in the first place.”

Clara gets to her feet and glares at me. “Do you honestly think I’m that gullible? What about Chris falling in love with me, was he gullible too or is it just because I’m a woman?”

I stare up at her, surprised that she’s tearing into me over this, I was only telling her how it is. “It’s not about being a woman. It’s about being young and naive. I never said y’all were gullible.”

Wade is making a slashing motion across his neck for me to cut it out, but he’s too late. Clara spits out, “I have a college degree, I’m not some sheltered high school girl who doesn’t know how the world works. You want to try again?”

I lower my voice. “Sit down, Clara. People are staring.”

“Fuck people staring! And don’t talk to me like I’m your son.”

Well, even if she did want to jump my bones, I think I’ve gone and blown it. Maybe it’s for the best, “I’m sorry,” I stammer awkwardly. “I didn’t mean to set y’all off. I didn’t mean that y’all were gullible, only that…” I pause, before continuing seeing Wade shaking his head out the corner of my eye. “Look forget it, I’m sorry, okay?”

“Women fall in love with assholes all the time because they’re good at hiding that part of their personality until they’ve got you hooked. It’s why I dropped Chris without a second thought when I found him with my sister.”

Wade tries to help, “I think we all just need to calm down for a second.” Turning to me, he lowers his voice. “You know Tex is all twisted up about you being in danger, because it’s clear he has a thing for you. Maybe you could cut him some slack, just this once.”

Then he looks at me. “I know your heart’s probably in the right place, but you have got to stop letting every stupid thing that pops into your head come out of your pie hole.”

Wade ain’t wrong about any of what he’s saying to us. Here I thought we were saving him and come to find out, he’s the one helping us through our shit. I have the strongest feeling that we’re gonna end up being one big ole dysfunctional family one day in the future.

Wade downs his beer and stands. “My head is killing me, and I need some time alone to think things through.”

Clara stands and gives him a brief hug. “Sorry, that headache probably has Tex and my name written all over it.”

“No, it’s all your sister. Today’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for me.” Shooting her a tired grin, he says, “Try not bite each other’s head off while I’m dealing with this migraine.”

She smooths her hand down his arm and grins back at him. “We’ll try our best. If I don’t make it, let it be known that you inherit all my worldly possessions.”

“Don’t fucking kill each other. Your cat hates me. I can’t be his master.”

As he walks off, I call out, “Ask the brother at the bar for some pain killers.”

Wade throws one hand up but doesn’t look back. I tell Clara, “I think we’re driving that man a little crazy. He clearly doesn’t like to deal with conflict.”

She plops back down in her chair and leans on the table, putting her chin in her hand. “Don’t let Wade fool you. That man thrives on conflict. He married my sister after all. And then made four of the most rambunctious kids I’ve ever seen with her. I offered to babysit tomorrow so Wade can spend the day with them.”

“Yeah, I heard that when I standing on the porch. That was a real nice thing for y’all to do.”

She flashes me a worried look. “If it’s a problem having them here, I can watch them at my place.”

“That’s crazy talk. The Legion loves families and kids.”

“That’s good,” she says with a note of relief on her voice. “I plan to hang back and let Wade enjoy the day with them.”

I know Wade told me not to say every damn fool thing that came into my head, but I want to straighten things out, “I don’t think you’re gullible. Really. That’s not what I meant.”

She gives me a weak smile, “I know. I shouldn’t have gone off on one, but I’ve been so angry with myself for being a gullible, na?ve idiot, to get married to a waste of space like him. You just touched a raw nerve.”

Getting back to the task at hand, I ask, “Can you think of anyone else who might be harboring a grudge against y’all?”

“No, but one thought did come to mind. What if this is a case of mistaken identity? Maybe they want the person who lives across from me and they just got the wrong house. Maybe I should ask around?”

“I think everyone in the damned neighborhood knows your car alarm is being set off at all hours. If anyone knew anything and was willing to talk, they probably would have by now so they could get a decent night’s sleep.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” she responds thoughtfully. “I can’t really think of anyone who’s ever had bad enough feelings to stalk me.”

“You weren’t competing for the same scholarship in college or anything like that?”

“No. There’s no unhappy ex-boyfriends, no one I bullied trying to get revenge and no one I pissed off at work. I’ve never had a lot of conflict with others. If anything, it was the other way round, a good friend of mine at college ended up in an abusive relationship. I saw how that wrecked her life.”

I shrug, “Maybe someone lost a pie bake off to y’all at the country fair last year and are just getting around to exacting their revenge.”

“Does California have county fairs? I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.”

“Well, sugar pie. I’m running out of ideas here. Since all this happens at night, I’m gonna stake out your house tonight with some prospects. Maybe we’ll turn up something?”

“If you plan to stay up all night, you should probably try to get a few hours of sleep,” she tells me.

“I might do that. You can hang out with Levi and Evan if you like. I’ll come down right before dark, grab a bite to eat, and head out.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

I waggle my eyebrows at her. “You gonna be okay sleeping alone in my big ole bed?” With Wade staying at the clubhouse we were gonna have to be creative about the sleeping arrangements. I had originally intended on letting Clara have my bed, Levi could take the second bedroom, and I’d sleep on the sofa. But now the prospects have started wiring up her house, it made more sense for me to stay there overnight.

“It’ll be difficult, but I think I can manage,” she jokes. “Would your president be okay if I invited my best friend over for a few hours?”

“That should be fine, I’ll square it with Siege. Y’all need to explain the way we operate here and keep her by your side. Because I haven’t had her properly vetted, any trouble she makes lands on me.”

“I don’t have to invite her if it makes you feel uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t bother me one little bit. I like the idea of you having a little company on a Saturday evening. What’s her name and I can run it past Siege.”

Smiling, she pulls out her cell phone. “Her name is Abigail Sanders. I’ll text her and see if she’s free. My best guess is she’ll jump at the chance to come to the Savage Legion clubhouse. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for na?ve little schoolteachers like us.”

I know she’s teasing. I wasn’t lying, I really didn’t think she was gullible, just that she doesn’t know how devious men can be when they want to get laid. Not me though, I’m gonna be on my best behavior while Miss Clara is here. Pride surges in my chest that these lovely ladies see coming here as something special. I believe with every fiber of my being that this club my brothers and I have built is something to be proud of. Although I never met the founder, Claw, I’ve listened intently to the stories Siege tells. His old man was full of the kind of knowledge and wisdom you don’t get from books. I wish I’d had an opportunity to meet him. I didn’t, but I am well acquainted with Claw’s widow and his daughter, Serena. She’s an attorney and married to our club attorney, Smoke.

That gives me an idea, I take out my cell phone and ask Smoke to drop by tomorrow if he can and meet with Wade about his divorce and custody petition. I want Smoke to make sure Wade’s getting a fair shake, cause I gotta admit it doesn’t seem like he is, if Clara has to sneak his kids to the clubhouse so he can visit with them.

Clara speaks up, her voice excited. “Abby said she can be here in an hour. Thanks again for letting her come.”

“No problem. I’m gonna get some shuteye so I can be alert tonight.”

I feel bad leaving Clara to her own devices in the clubhouse, but I don’t want to be drowsy tonight when I’m guarding her house. The quicker I can catch whoever is doing this, the quicker I can determine whether Clara is interested in a real relationship with me. I grab a shower, take a sleeping pill, and crash out into a blissful sleep.